World Series of Poker bracelet winner disqualified, seven-figure payout rejected

It was good story in September when the then-unknown Francesco Garofalo won a $25,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Online an event that survived one of the most difficult fields of the series.

The fact that Garofalo, playing under the name forzaitalia, could have resulted from a busy final table that included high-stakes regulars such as Ole Schemion, Roman Grabek, Adrian Mateos, Dimitar Danchev, Patrick Leonard, Bryn Kenney and Chris Brewer felt too much good to be true.

As it turned out, this was true.

Garofalo was reportedly disqualified and banned, and his $1.1 million first place prize was confiscated and given to everyone else who earned money.

GGPoker, site that hosted the international tournament VSOP Online series, did not provide a specific reason for Garofalo’s disqualification, but did notify affected players of additional prize money.

“Please be assured that offending players will be permanently banned from playing on the GGPoker network.”

Brewer suffered the most, having to settle for a second-place prize of $865,335. Although moving up one position brought an additional payout of $256,866, he did not receive a bracelet.

Kenney, who originally finished third, added another $198,070 to his $667,265 payout.

Wow, just woke up from this. I think my biggest collateral return before was no more than $2k.

I think it’s a great day to have a great day! pic.twitter.com/knZW5ADOMW

— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) November 4, 2024

I have a difference between 2nd and 1st. But I did not receive the bracelet, in any case I am very pleased.

— Chris Brewer (@Chris_D_Brewer) November 4, 2024